[svenakela]

This is a beautyful little machine, truly great craftmanship behind it

[arie kabaalstra]

Hold it !!.. wait up!.. i've done another thing today!..



i've drilled small centerholes in both probe body and attach-disc, i can now put a small steel ball in there, and adjust the probe with the 3 screws..

[matsuura]

Very nice the probe Arie.

(Why buy one when you can build one) should be your signature.

[Zumba]

Pretty cool, to say the least. I'm a stickler for details as well. The only reason why I don't surface grind everything is that my grinder is only 6x18.

Curious... do you have any problems with cold rolled steel warping due to internal stress after grinding both faces? Do you normalize the material before grinding? I've been using hot rolled steel for this very reason.

[rhino]

Hey Arie,

first of all, i am thoroughly enjoying reading your thread, i check for updates every afternoon after work.

Secondly, your probe. is this your own design, or have you pulled one apart and had a good look inside one to see how it all works?

[higgrobot]

Nice little touch probe, how accurate is it? I have a manual one that spins in a chuck and use your eyeballs, i made by joining a ball on the end of a 6mm C45 rod, i can get within 0.02mm most of the time. The big ones we have at work use compressed air to keep two metal contact plates apart, they can repeat to 0.000 all day until one of us bends the probe

[LeeWay]

Excellent project here. You do some fanastic work and the Tool Maker in you is quite evident. I have been following along with lots of interest.
I too am making my own mill, but have chosen different materials. It will be of my own design as well.
Your table design has peaked my interest. I am in the process of designing that part now. I finally have all my rails, bearing blocks, ball screws and such together. Got the last rail yesterday from THK.
I started a thread some time ago on mine, but can't seem to locate it now. I will either find it or start another. Thanks a bunch for posting such detail of a fine design and build.
I'll keep my eyes on it for sure.

[Mike Nash]

This is what the PC looks like now.. controllers mounted, power and communications connected.. only the handwheel encoder is giving me a Headache.. it doesn't do what it's supposed to.. the axes rock back and forth instead of running smoothly.. anyone, any clue?..

If you're still having problems with the handwheel encoder, it sounds as if you may be missing one channel. This would cause a single count up/down as it is rotated.

Mike

[arie kabaalstra]

which would basically mean?.. that the encoder is broken?.. if so.. then i'd have to get a new one... any way of testing?.. i do have a Fluke 179 could i use that to test my handwheel?..

[Jay C]

You should see pulses on both channel wires. The B channel will lag the A channel by 90 degrees. In this way, the controller know s which way and how fast the encoder is turning. You did not post a photo of yoor encoder so that's just a basic description.

Jay

[arie kabaalstra]

my encoder has 4 connectors, V+, V-, A and B, how do i connect my Fluke?

[Jay C]

Connect the black lead (gnd) to V- (assuming that you encoder is 0V to 5V like the ones I use). Then use the Red probe to see if the voltage pulse on and off between 0 and V+ value. Depending on your encoder, you will need to turn the encoder slowly.

[arie kabaalstra]

will try that tomorrow.. my bed is calling for me right now.. it's that late in europe..

[Some-Guy]

really neat I should have gone the tool making route. altho its not to late.

[LUCKY13]

Arie, nice little probe. Should do its job quit well. If I may ask?

What is the red & black rings around your finished probe? Are they
O rings?

Also. how did you get all the contactors (the B copper parts) setting exactly the same height? I was wandering about this, then after thinking I assume this is why a three axis setup is used instead of four. And I guess this is why the ball bearing between the plates, to get things inline just right because it would almost be imposible to get the pionter perfectly centered/stright, without something to make up for it. Really to look so simple, there is alot more going on here than meats the eye.

Getting the wiring in must of been fun? I wander if it would have been easier to solder if one was to drill a horizontol hole in the contactors for the wire to slip in, then solder it from the back of the hole.


I will be building one of these myself now, thanks for the great wright up on it. I dont believe I would have tried to build one without seeing yours. I would of known where to start even.

Cant wait to see your machine finished. It should make some nice liking chips for sure.


Jess

[arie kabaalstra]

drilling a hole for the wire has crossed my mind, very, very brief... don't forget, the beryllium-copper pins are only 2mm in diameter..

now for the Fun part.. it doesn't really matter how accurat the probe is built!... "it doesn't?... "" .. No really, it doesn't... as long as the 3 switch pins rest on all 6 copper pins ( which they will allways do... )... i drilled a center hole in the top of the body, and one in the bottom af the attachement that comes on top.. with a little steel ball in between you can always adjust and align the probe..( you will have to anyway.. even professional probes like those from Renishaw have this way of adjustment..

the red and black rings?.. the black one is indeed an O-ring, the red one?.. a piece of wire insulation, there is a small groove between the delrin part and the aluminium part, slightly smaller then the diameter of the wire insulation, it is simply "rolled in"... and cut to length.. ( don't tell anyone.. it's a secret... really.. )

about the accuracy of the probe as such?.. repeatability is well within 0.005 mm, i tested it at work yesterday.. put the probe in the Bridgeport VMC 800 that i work with, and hooked up my Fluke, and set it for "Diode-testing" if there's a connection, the fluke will beep continuously, as soon as the circuit is broken ... Silence... i put the machine on icremental 0.005mm steps.. and by jogging i found out that the probe switches at 0.02 mm ( touching, and then backing off by steps of 0.005), when the fluke started beeping, i'd have to jog 0.02 mm back to stop it again, every time i tested, 0.02 mm, so i think it works..

and about the warping of the steel?.. as long as you take off equal amounts of material on both sides, it wil remain straight.. but, it can be warped when you start with a part.., that's why i ground anything, first i "clean" the material with an oilstone, to grind off all dents knicks and scratches, which cause burrs, which cause loss of accuracy.. then, i put the plate on the grinding table, and start "probing" with feeler gauge, as soon as i can slide it under my part somewhere, mark it, and find out if there's more places where i can slide a feeler under my part ( all is done with the magneto off! ),

then i cut pieces of feeler gauge, and slide as much as needed under the part to fill out all the gaps.. then.. if i switch on the magneto, the part isn't warped by the magnetic forces, and thus won't bend, and bounce back when finished.. then i grind off 0.05 mm, and turn the plate over, don't have to "Probe" anymore, since this first ground plane is really flat .

if a part is really warped, then maybe i will have to repeat this sequence a couple of times, but in the end I always get what i want..

another way to get it perfect?... just buy soft annealed ground steel 1.1730 quality, will cost ya some mo'money though..

@ rhino, nope.. never pulled a probe apart.. but i saw one in another topic here.. and as soon as i figured out how it worked. i designed, and built mine...

[LUCKY13]

Arie

Very nice, thanks for the info to.

LOL, yea 2mm that would be a little hard to drill. I am afraid I would need more than my glasses to pull that one off.

Wire insulation, Hehe, thats a slick one that I will have to remember. It looks so OEM like some kinda gasket. If you had told me you bought some Nylon/fiber gasket or something I would not have known the diff. Looks good.


Ballbearing ajustment - I kinda figured the ajusment thing was something that had to be done. Just like setting up a edge finder to be true, only you can use the screws to set it.


Repeatable 2mm - Yea it doesnt matter if it has to be backed of 10mm, as long as it does the same thing every time. Sounds like you have that thing working as good as anything you could buy.


I am without a machine right now, and it will be about a month before I get my new machine to the shop. Seeing your work really makes me want to be making something. You are a true Craftsman (and thats a understament). If it wasnt for people like you , guys like me would not have a chance at learning these things. I thank you for your thread, and I am sure many others are thanksfull for you sharing your work with us. Looking forward to seeing more.


Jess

[Mike F]

Arie,

What a magnificent thread this is. It puts my build to shame, though it does have a different purpose. I was told to look at this thread by another admirer and boy, am I glad he told me about it.

I hope your rails and screws arrive shortly as I am on the edge of my seat, waiting to see the final result.

A magnificent build that sets new standards that we can all aspire to though many of us will fail misserably. Fantastic.

Mike

[arie kabaalstra]

@Mike, i don't think my machine puts yours to shame.. personally i think it's brilliant to use the structure of a building to increase the structural integrity of your machine....

but i would increase the stability of the slide-assembly by widening it, especially when the router is at the end of the arm, the momentum on the runnerblocks can be really high.. maybe a support rail on the floor ( also with a ballscrew running syncronous with the other wil give you ae enormous benefit in stability.

though it's a very different machine, i think the desing really has potential, since you've been thinking outside the box, not building what all the others ( me included) are building..

[Mike F]

Arie,

Thanks for your comments. I take your point about the stability but I do believe that once I get round to replacing the MDF with carbon fibre, the whole thing will be a massive amount stiffer. Already I am beginning to see some vibration. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Vibration is something I very much doubt your machine will suffer from

Surface grinding is something I am thinking about for the future, along with a drum sander. I am thinking that both these attachment could be made to replace the spindle on a CNC machine and make the whole thing a lot more versatile.

All the best with your build, I will be watching closely.

Mike